After an important win at Inter
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He wasn’t even in the squad, but Mohamed Salah was still a big topic of conversation after Liverpool FC’s important win. With a late 1-0 (0-0) win at Inter Milan, the Reds had just taken a small step out of their sporting crisis when people quickly asked about the Egyptian again. “This is a difficult situation,” said left-back Andy Robertson about the superstar who was banned from the squad. “We’re talking about one of the club’s greatest players. But what happened, happened. We’re all together internally.”
What happened was that Salah delivered a remarkable angry speech against the club and against coach Arne Slot last weekend. The Dutchman then left him out of the squad for the Inter game. It remains unclear whether Salah will return to the squad against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. “That’s for other people to decide, not me,” said Robertson.
Captain Virgil van Dijk was asked whether Salah needed to apologize for his behavior. “I’m not the one who can decide whether someone needs to apologize. He has expressed his feelings in the last few days. This is something that the club has to deal with, and of course myself too,” explained the defender. Slot was also confronted with this question: “Everyone makes mistakes in life, but does the player know that he has made a mistake? Should the initiative come from him or from me? That is a different question.”
Without the Egyptian, who is upset because of his recent lack of playing time, the Reds secured a hard-fought away win. Substitute national player Florian Wirtz also helped decisively. Shortly before the end, the ex-Leverkusen player was pulled on his jersey in the penalty area by Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni, and referee Felix Zwayer decided on a penalty after viewing the video images. Dominik Szoboszlai safely converted this (88th minute).
Still, it was all about Salah, even if Slot tried to keep the focus on the team. “It should be about what we have done here. I fully understand that all the questions at the press conference on Friday will be about Mo. But tonight it should be all about the team that played against such an opponent in such a stadium.”